A Ray of Hope
by TUNSEM
Summary: Upon searching Japans house, in attempts to gain valuable information and gain the upper hand during WW2, England discovers the young Asian island Japan had stolen from China, teary-eyed and scared. Rated t for referenced rape.


"**A Ray of Hope"**

The floorboards creaked eerily underfoot as England, or Arthur Kirkland if you prefer, crept through the home. How he had managed to sneak into Japans home during the middle of this war, he would never know. Luck was with him today, it seemed. He paused in his walk as he heard something in the distance.

"_Crying...?"_ Someone was crying? But there was supposed to be no one here. Unless... England continued on his search trying to find where the source of noise and tears was coming from.

Finally he came to the end of the hall, and just beyond the sliding door in front of him, he could hear the crying clearly. It was obvious it was a girl. A girl crying in Japans household? What on Earth had the man done?

As he slowly, and cautiously opened the door, his eyes widened to see a young-looking girl sitting on the bed with her legs pulled close to her chest and absolutely nothing on aside from the white jacket of the man who lived there. He long brown hair flowed on either side of her tear-stained face. "...My god."

She squeaked when she heard him, eyes wide and fearful at the Englishman. She obviously hadn't heard or seen him come in. England's eyes softened and he took a careful step inside. "No, no...it's okay...I'm not here to hurt you." He kept his voice soft and low, trying to calm her, but she only looked at him with suspicion. He took another step closer and she seemed to flinch. It almost broke his heart to see a girl so...broken and scared.

This current game was getting him nowhere fast. "...Do you understand me." She gave him this sort of look that seemed to scream 'no duh, Sherlock'. He winced slightly at that. Okay, so she was scared, but not completely broken.

"...My name is Arthur Kirkland, but most know me as England." At that her eyes widened once again and she scooted back on the bed, as if trying to get away from him as quickly as possible. "No, no! You've got it all wrong! I'm not going to hurt you! I promise!"

With that reaction she obviously wasn't a captive. A captive would have been relieved to see someone from the opposite side to come help them. And then it hit him... "Are you...a nation?"

Her eyes lowered, and she shook her head slowly.

"Then what are you?"

"...A colony."

Oh, so she does speak. "...What's your name?"

She hesitates. "M-Mei. Though most call me Taiwan..."

Taiwan? Was this really the same little girl who had practically begged him not to take Hong Kong away? She'd grown quite a bit since the last time he saw her. "Why are you...?"

"Naked?" Arthur blushed slightly in response, with a nod of his head. "...Japan went into his...dark mode as some call it...and decided it would be fun to..." And so the tears started again.

Arthur winced and walked closer to the futon, kneeling down in front of her. "...I'm sorry. Please don't cry." he brushed away some of the tears on her cheeks, though it did little to help. "...Come with me. I'll get you out of here." He offered her his hand.

"No!" Her eyes were wide, and she held her hands up to her chest. "...i can't leave...I just...I want this war to be over...I want Japan to be normal again..."

"...I see." Was all he could manage to say. She loved Japan from the looks of it. Yet he knew that if the Axis Powers lost this war, she wouldn't be able to stay here with Japan. She'd have to go back to China. And if his memory served him correctly, she really didn't care for her elder brother.

He took her hand in his, putting his other hand on the back of hers, reassuringly. "We will end this war and Japan will go back to normal." Green eyes met brown. "I promise."

More tears formed at the corner of her chocolate brown eyes, and in moments, she flung her arms around the British nation, crying into his shoulder. Arthur couldn't help his blush, seeing as the jacket that once covered her now lay on the futon. But, he wrapped his arms around her delicate form anyhow. What else could he do?

He pushed her back after a while, brushing the stray strands of hair out of her face. She really was a pretty thing, he thought as he stared down into those eyes of hers. He could see why she had been fought over for years. With a soft smile, he pressed his lips to the top of her forehead, causing her to blush this time.

Mei relaxed into his arms, and for the first time in years, she felt completely safe. This man...was so comforting...so warm and soft. She didn't want to let go of him.

However, the moment couldn't last, both of them knew it. England was in danger just by being here. He needed to leave as soon as possible. With a sigh, he pulled away and stood up.

Desperate, Mei reached out to stop him, "W-Wait!"

He turned, looking down at the girl.

"...Th-Thank you."

A sweet smile.

There was nothing left to be said, so he turned and left, leaving Mei to curl up on the futon with a sad smile.


End file.
